Disciple
by Chloe Silvers
Summary: Oliver needs Mia to keep him in check. Companion piece to Erase, entirely from Mia Dearden's point of view. You should really read the two stories side by side. Chlollie implication.
1. Chapter 1

Oliver: "I'm not worried about him. Mia, it's what he said. I think he's right. What if I can't outrun these dark places inside me?"

Mia: "That's why you need me. To keep you in check. There's a dark place inside everyone, Oliver. What we do with it depends not on who our teachers are but what we do with the lessons learned."

Summary: Oliver Queen needs Mia to keep him in check. Companion Piece to Erase- you should really read the two side by side.

Warnings: Violence and spoilers for season 9

Chapter One

Mia Dearden was studying in the library when her cell phone rang. It was Oliver. "Hey", she greeted. She was surprised that he had called- she hadn't heard from him in a while. She hoped that everything was okay.

"I need to talk to you about something. I think we need to meet."

"Okay, where?"

"Do you remember where I usually start my patrol route?"

How could she forget? "Yeah, I do."

"Meet me there."

He hung up before she could reply. What was going on with him?

She was curious, but had work to do. She had an exam coming up, and she was trying to keep up with target practice every night. She knew that she had to make it all work, if she even hoped to go on patrol one day.

***

She changed into her uniform and made her way over to the roof. She saw Oliver in front of her, and observed the way that he was holding himself. She knew immediately that something had happened to him- where he had usually marveled at the view, he was staring down sadly.

He straightened up when she walked closer. "Thanks for meeting me", he said before turning around. He flipped off his voice distorter and pulled back on her hood before taking off his sunglasses. She followed his lead.

"I hadn't heard from you in awhile. I was worried", she explained.

"I'll be okay." But somehow, she didn't believe him. "The suit looks good", he motioned to her gear.

She smiled to herself. Even though she had wanted to emulate him, she felt that the cape would be something different. It had been her first time wearing it, and she was glad that it looked okay. "Your guy did a good job."

But she wasn't about to let him change the topic. Time to be all about business. She gave him a serious look. "What's been going on, Oliver?"

He turned his back to her, and looked down. "There are thousands of people down there every day, living their normal lives. We work so hard as heroes to try and save every one of them when they're in trouble."

She walked up to him, and looked down at the city too. That was one thing about being a hero that she was afraid of. Choosing. What made one person more important than another? They were all foreign to her.

"What if you have to choose between saving one person or another?" she asked

"I don't know", he said softly. "I just do what I can."

He stepped back from the roof. She was curious- what was she doing here?

"There's someone that I have to find", he told her. "Someone who can do a lot of good. She's lost right now, and I have to leave the country to find her."

Mia knew that if this woman made Oliver want to leave the country in order to find her, then she was important. This woman was important to him, and if her disappearance was causing him pain, then she was going to help him.

"Let me help you find her."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Mia."

Why the hell wasn't it a good idea? "Why not?" She demanded. It couldn't be because she wasn't good enough- she practiced her archery for 3 hours every night. She modified her diet so that it had extra protein, and did yoga and kick boxing every morning. What was the problem? "I can shoot an arrow almost as well as you can. You trained me yourself."

"I don't doubt your skills in any way", he assured her. "This is just something that I have to do myself."

With her past, she knew what that was like. And she also knew that if Oliver had come into her life sooner and she accepted his help, it would have saved her a lot of pain. "Then trust me", she insisted. "Let me help somehow."

She watched as the gears turned in his brain. She felt like she was at some sort of office, awaiting a performance evaluation. And she hoped that she was good enough now for him to trust her.

"Her name is Chloe Sullivan", he finally said. "Do you remember when we first met and I told you that I knew what it was like to be lost?"

She nodded. She also remembered him saying that he wouldn't have made it out if it hadn't been for his friends. She could see that Oliver was falling down some sort of hole again. And that worried her.

"She pulled me out of it", he told her.

So this woman pulled him out of a hole. And he was falling into another hole, except this time Chloe wasn't around.

"And now that she's lost, you feel that it's your role to pull her out of it?" she asked

"Something like that", he answered.

And that's when it hit her- Oliver was in love with this Chloe Sullivan. And he was probably completely blind to it. Idiot.

She adjusted a glove so that her epiphany didn't show. "How have you been trying to find her?" she asked

"She left two good-bye videos. She meant to delete the second one. I've been trying to get clues from that, and from her belongings."

He was going about this all the wrong way. She had a little experience in trying to disappear. If you want to find someone, you find the people they're closest to. You don't look for clues in their things. But she didn't know this woman, maybe she was a private person.

"And how has that been working out for you, so far?" she asked

He shook his head. "Dead ends, all of them. I think that I need to start looking outside of the country- she mentioned Italy in the second video. That's the first place I'm going to look. But I'm running out of ideas fast."

"What about the people she's closest to?"

"What about them?" he asked "She probably hasn't spoken to them in years."

"Probably doesn't mean that she definitely hasn't. She could have called in a favor."

"It's something to consider", he said. "Thanks."

He turned to leave, but she knew that she had to have been called over here for a reason. Oliver was a private person- he wouldn't have just called her over here to chat. "Oliver", she called after him. He turned around. "Did you call me here for a reason?"

"Yes. I'm going to be in and out of the country for a while. Do you mind taking over my patrol for a bit? Keeping an eye out?"

She was swamped with work, and was having difficulty balancing everything. But this was the opportunity that she had been waiting for- she wasn't going to give Oliver the time to reconsider. "Sure."

"I'll send you the number for Dr. Hamilton in the morning in case something goes wrong and you need medical attention. If you need back-up on the field, call for the Blur."

Did he work with the Blur? What was going on there? "The guy in all of the newspaper? Okay."

He nodded. "That's only on scene. I want you to check in with me every night after patrol."

But she didn't know his full patrol route, even if she didn't want to admit it. "Okay, but I don't know your patrol route", she said.

He took out his crossbow, and shot out a zip-line. "Well, it's time to learn, isn't it?"

She took out her own crossbow, and focused on where he aimed his before pulling the trigger. "After you."

She smiled. She had never gone on patrol with Oliver before. He never let her tag along before. It was time for her to prove to him how good she could be.


	2. Chapter 2

Oliver: "I'm not worried about him. Mia, it's what he said. I think he's right. What if I can't outrun these dark places inside me?"

Mia: "That's why you need me. To keep you in check. There's a dark place inside everyone, Oliver. What we do with it depends not on who our teachers are but what we do with the lessons learned."

Summary: Oliver Queen needs Mia to keep him in check. Companion Piece to Erase- you should really read the two side by side.

Warnings: Violence and spoilers for season 9

Chapter Two

Mia: "I don't bruise that easily."

Oliver: "Well, maybe not on the outside."

Mia was on a nearby roof when she saw a woman walking in a dark alleyway. She kept an eye on the woman from above. It was dangerous to be walking around Metropolis in the middle of the night alone, especially in the alleyways. Whoever this woman was, she was asking for trouble.

And just like clockwork, a man crept out from the shadows and approached her. Mia couldn't hear what he was saying, but she recognized the signs. The staring, the whistling, she had seen it all before. But she couldn't do anything yet. Mia had to just wait here and wait for the woman to be in trouble. That was the only crappy part about this job.

This wasn't her first night on patrol- she had stopped countless burglaries and muggings. But she had never needed to stop a rape before.

When she saw the man over-powering the woman and knocking her down, it was almost as if she was watching herself. The helplessness before she started fighting, having to give in to powerful men who found her on the streets again and again.

And she wasn't going to let it happen to this woman. She jumped down, and rolled onto the floor before grabbing an arrow and shooting a taser arrow at the man.

She watched as the man released the woman, and fell to the floor. He was convulsing, but he was trying to get up. He was fighting it. Mia didn't even register the woman running away from the scene. She folded the bow, and put it away.

She kicked him down. "You see, I've been taught that everybody can be reformed. To give everyone a second chance", she said, circling around the man, before pulling out the taser arrow. "But is there really hope for you?"

The man stopped convulsing, and got up. "What are you doing?" he asked

"You were so willing to overpower that woman. I'm the same size as her. Why don't you try and overpower me?"

"You're asking for it, girl." The man told her before reaching a hand to her throat, and pushing her against the brick wall.

He held her up until her feet were dangling from the ground. She smirked. "Having fun yet?"

She slammed her head against his, and did a back flip behind him. She kicked him into the wall, and watched as he hit the ground.

"Well, are you?" she demanded before kicking him again

He gasped for breath as she pulled him up before punching him in the nose, watching as he fell down.

She shook her hand before staring at it. Her knuckles were covered in his blood.

She remembered when Oliver first found her. What he said to her. I know what I'm talking about Mia, because I used to fight for the same reasons that you do. It never mattered who was standing across from me because the real battle was with myself.

She thought that she had already overcome her fears. That the hatred that was inside of her had disappeared. She had gone through so much training, and she almost lost her sense of everything in one night. She was never going to be as good of a hero as Oliver was. But she was still going to try.

She reached for her crossbow, and shot the grappling arrow at a nearby flagpole. She pressed a button, and felt herself get pulled up in the air.

***

She didn't want to call Oliver, in case he decided to change his mind about her taking over his patrol. She really didn't want to disappoint him. But she did want to know if this was normal- he always seemed to be in control of what was right and wrong, enough to make her question her own actions, anyway.

She was going to have to call him to check in after patrol at the very least, so she waited until after she reached her apartment and got changed.

He didn't pick up his phone. That was when she knew that something was slightly off. Okay, no big deal. She tried again. No success.

She kept calling and calling, but there was no response. It wasn't like Oliver at all, and Mia was beginning to get worried quickly. She reached for her keys and darted out of the apartment.

Oliver called her Speedy the day she first met him. The title kind of stuck, but the meaning remained the same whenever she got inside of a car. Driving usually calmed her down, but not this time. This time, it was only a means to find out what was going on. And she couldn't get to the penthouse fast enough, even if she was traveling at 100 miles per hour.

But when she got to the penthouse, he wasn't there. Mia examined the state of the place carefully. It didn't look like he had been kidnapped. There were boxes everywhere, and she looked at the closest one. There were a couple of college textbooks on journalism. Oliver didn't read this stuff- it must have belonged to Chloe.

Boxes aside, the penthouse didn't seem to be in a state of disarray. And Oliver hadn't called to say that he was out chasing another lead, so he was probably still in Metropolis. But where could he be?

Patrol- the start of Oliver's patrol always started at this huge tower in the middle of the city. She always saw it on her walk to school. She always smiled to herself whenever she saw it, knowing that nobody else in the city was aware that the Green Arrow started his patrol there. Nobody knew that she had taken over.

Maybe he was there- there had to be a reason for him to start his patrol route there every night- why not the Clock Tower? It was certainly high enough.

Mia had to try something- Oliver was missing, and she didn't know where else to look. She left the penthouse, and sped towards that tower.

She picked the lock of the front door, and walked inside. The only thing that she saw was an elevator with only one direction- up. She pressed the up button, and stepped in when the doors opened.

The elevator would only move if she inserted her fingerprint, so she shrugged. Why the hell not? The worst that could happen was that the elevator wouldn't move. She would just press the open button, and jet the hell out of there before anybody found her. No problem.

But for some reason, the elevator registered her fingerprint, and the elevator started moving up. Okay, this was creepy. If Oliver wasn't in here, then she was being set up somehow. And she didn't have her bow with her.

The elevator opened, and she was on the lookout for anything and everything. She looked around, and opened the double doors in front of her.

"Oliver?" she called out nervously as she walked around

Finding him right now was the only thing on her mind. She just wanted to make sure that he was okay.

"Are you here?" she asked

She rounded a corner when she saw him. He didn't even seem to register that she was in the same room. She tapped his shoulder. He turned around, but didn't even look at her. He reached over for another piece of tape. She started feeling guilty- did he know what happened at patrol tonight?

Okay, don't run to conclusions. She just started telling him why she was there. "Oliver, I've been worried sick. I called an hour ago to check in, and you weren't picking up your phone. So I kept calling. After the eighth call, I figured I'd try to find you."

He turned around again. Okay, so he did know that she was in the room. That was a good sign. He grabbed another piece of tape. "I'm fine", he told her.

That was highly doubtful. But he was too focused to even talk to her. She stood in front of the wall, so he couldn't tape up the picture in his hand, and took the picture. "What's this?" she asked as she flipped it around. "Who is this?" she asked

"Meta-human. Person born with supernatural abilities."

This picture was of some random man. And that wasn't all. There were pictures all over the wall, circled around the picture of a blonde woman. This must be Chloe.

"Okay…" she answered "What does this person have to do with your friend?" she asked

He took the picture from her hand. "I'm trying to find a connection to her. Trying to see if their known associates." He moved to another part of the wall, and posted it up.

This didn't seem right- Oliver didn't seem right. "Oliver, what's going on with you? The last time you were like this, you said that you were being followed. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine", he said. Fine wasn't great. Fine wasn't even good. Fine meant that there was something wrong.

He walked out of the room, and she followed him. "It doesn't look fine." He looked awful, dead on his feet. He probably hadn't slept in a while. Hell, he probably hadn't even eaten today. But he kept walking.

She ran in front of him, and grabbed him by the shoulders. "When was the last time you slept?" she asked him

"Last night", he answered immediately.

She shook her head. "I mean, when was the last time you really slept?"

She remembered being out on the streets, tossing and turning. She never really slept in those days. She just closed her eyes and waited for time to pass. She knew what he was going through.

"No tossing or turning, no weird dreams, no nightmares, and no late nights", she clarified. His silence only confirmed her suspicions. "See? You have to start taking care of yourself."

"I'll start taking care of myself once I find her, Mia. This is what we do. Why are you fighting me on this?"

Okay, it was one thing to screw up patrol. It was another to see the very person who taught her how to draw the line fall so quickly like this. Why was she fighting him on this? Was he serious? "Because you're no good to the world if you destroy yourself!" She exclaimed

"I'm on a time crunch. I've already wasted more than a month", he said. He shoved past her, and started typing on a computer.

Oh, so the rules didn't apply when there was a time crunch? Good to know. She rolled her eyes, when she caught a glimpse of some of the computers upstairs.

There were computers everywhere. They were running searches, and printing out documents. There were small computers, large computers; the entire place was covered with monitors. What was this place doing here, and what was it used for?

"Oliver, where are we? What is this place?"

She watched as his lips curved into a smile. He was obviously very proud of this establishment. "This is the Watchtower. It has unlimited access to knowledge all over the world. And with it, we're able to save countless lives."

We. Plural. Chloe was part of all of this. It would make sense. "We? You and Chloe, you mean?"

He stopped typing and turned to face her. "You know that I'm the Green Arrow. Chloe is Watchtower- she guides a team of us during missions around the world in order to save people."

She nodded. "So basically, she made some kind of a GPS system?"

He shook his head. "No, it's much more than that. It's kind of hard to explain."

She wanted him to just let her in. That's all. "Then help me understand."

"There was a time last year when our team split up. We all went our separate ways, and tried to do everything alone. She brought us all back together- gave us a sense of purpose."

The way he was talking about her, it was almost…poetic. After everything that she had been through, love was always the last thing on her mind. The partnership that he had was Chloe must have been nice.

"What?" he asked

Okay, it was time for him to get a clue now. "You like her, don't you?"

He was silent for a moment. That was a definite yes.

"I just…have to find her." He said before resuming his typing

She nodded her head. It felt nice, knowing something that he didn't. Oliver was always the person with the answers. It was always her role to listen, and she was going to continue to play that role.

"I know. Come on, let's grab some dinner."

"Mia, what part of time crunch do you not understand?" he asked

"Look", she started. "You told me before that you don't want me to help you look for her. Just to keep an eye on the city. I finished patrol an hour and a half ago."

Okay, so she was playing the guilt card to get him out of there. It looked like he needed to get away. Desperately. "Everything's fine, thank you for asking", she continued. "So the least you could do is let me get a full meal in you. Maybe we'll negotiate a proper sleeping pattern later. If not, you can come back here, and type to your heart's content."

As if on cue, his stomach started rumbling.

"I'll take that as a yes." She walked over to the desk and grabbed his jacket. She held it out for him. "Come on, I'll even let you drive. And you can tell me all about Chloe Sullivan." She wanted to know everything about her.

He let out a sigh, and grabbed the jacket. "One hour."

"Two hours."

"Hour and a half."

She smiled. "Done." She agreed as she opened the double doors. "Now, come on. I'm starving."


	3. Chapter 3

Oliver: "I'm not worried about him. Mia, it's what he said. I think he's right. What if I can't outrun these dark places inside me?"

Mia: "That's why you need me. To keep you in check. There's a dark place inside everyone, Oliver. What we do with it depends not on who our teachers are but what we do with the lessons learned."

Summary: Oliver Queen needs Mia to keep him in check. Companion Piece to Erase- you should really read the two side by side.

Warnings: Violence and spoilers for season 9

Chapter Three

Mia was about to go up in Watchtower's elevator when she heard a couple of foreign voices. She immediately jumped back into a corner, and waited for them to go up.

She curled her hands up into a fist. If they were trying to break into the Watchtower, she was ready to stop them. She would wait until they failed the fingerprint scanner before attacking.

But when the elevator doors opened, Oliver stepped out. It looked like he was expecting them, but what was with the couch? Did something happen to the old one?

"We have a package for a Chloe Sullivan."

Her eyes widened. Chloe? She looked at Oliver.

"Yeah, she's upstairs. She told me to sign off, and bring it up." Oliver confirmed

Mia got excited- Chloe was all Oliver talked about over dinner way back when. She was incredibly important to him, and it sounded like she would be easy to get along with. Mia was looking forward to the day she met her, she just didn't expect that it would be so soon.

She watched as he signed off and told the men that he didn't need help in bringing the couch upstairs. Mia stepped out, and put her arms around the couch as he pressed the up button on the elevator.

"So you finally found her? Does that mean that I can meet her?" she asked him

He turned around. "I couldn't exactly tell them that Oliver Queen was ordering a couch and having it delivered somewhere other than my penthouse."

She watched as she wheeled the couch inside of the elevator. She followed him inside.

Why did he use Chloe's name? He had aliases that he pulled out when needed. "That's understandable, but you could have used another name. Made up an alias, even. I know you have a couple that you use."

"Mia, it's really nothing to look into."

She stared at the doors closing. He could say that as much as he wanted, but that wasn't going to stop her from worrying.

"Let me be the judge of that", she told him. "Why did you buy another couch, anyway?" she asked

The doors opened. "Just thought that a little bit of change would be nice."

She stepped out of the elevator and opened the double doors for him as he wheeled the couch inside.

She walked into the Watchtower and took a look around. The computers were newer, there was a top of the line espresso machine instead of the regular coffee pot, even the mini-fridge was upgraded to a full stainless steel one.

These weren't general upgrades. These were tailored specifically for Chloe. She had a coffee addiction, which would explain the espresso machine. She spent long hours at Watchtower, so that would be the reason for the fridge and couch. And her role of being Watchtower explained the new computers. Oliver was trying to give her a pre-mature welcome back.

"Looks like you've been changing a lot of things around here", she told him.

"I've just been moving things around a little. Nothing huge."

But it was huge. Oliver refused to move things around the penthouse. He had a specific order of keeping his gear when it came to the Arrow room, and unintentionally got her into being more organized with her gear too.

It was like he was nervously preparing for a baby to be brought home.

"For someone who refuses to move things around his own penthouse, it's kind of weird. It's like you're a pregnant woman nesting."

He let out a laugh. "A pregnant woman nesting?" he echoed

It was a strange term, but it was true. Maybe Oliver was chasing down a definite lead. It would explain the sudden celebration.

"No other way to describe it", she shrugged. "Are you chasing down a good lead, at least? I haven't spoken to you since you left."

She hoped that his impromptu trip to China was at least efficient. He left with almost no phone call, and she was nervous during patrol the entire time he was gone.

"China was a dead end. But don't worry, I haven't run out of ideas", he answered confidently.

Cocky. That's what he was being. He was so sure that he would find Chloe in time, and while that was a positive change from the man who strapping himself to the computers, she wasn't sure if she liked that change.

He wasn't even concerned with the possibility of finding a memory-erased Chloe. And that was because he was still completely blind to his feelings for her.

Even though his feelings were none of her business, she knew that if he failed to find her in time, it would destroy him. And here he was, completely relaxed about the whole thing.

"What if you don't find her?" she asked him

"What are you talking about?"

"You're getting over-confident", she told him. "It's like you're trying to give her some sort of welcome home present, and you haven't found her yet."

"It's not a matter of if I find her. It's a matter of when."

"Well, considering she's erasing her memory of you, when's a pretty important factor, isn't it?"

Oh god, he was going to become the work-obsessed Oliver again. Quick, backtrack. "Now, I'm not telling you to be completely one-track minded. I'm glad you're doing something other than looking for her", she clarified.

"There's a but, isn't there?" he asked

"But I think that you need to mentally prepare yourself of what you're going to do if you don't find her in time."

Please don't be offended, please don't be offended.

"I'll find her."

Great, he wasn't even paying attention to her. "You so need a hobby", she said, frustrated.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, with all that spare time I have."

Alright, time to be incredibly blunt with him. "No, listen to me. You're putting way too much of yourself into this. You spend every hour of every day looking for her. You take out your jet randomly, and fly to some random place in China, chasing whatever lead you can get your hands on. And during your spare time, you redecorate the place. Whatever you do, it all leads back to her."

Not to mention the wall. God, that wall terrified her, because he had done that only once before, and it scared the crap out of her then too.

She remembered her words to him back then. "You want to tell me what you're doing? Because this looks serial killer scary."

She remembered him not answering her right away either. And his silence back then only scared her even more. So she kept talking. "Okay…this is where you tell me you hate the taste of flesh to make me feel better?"

The joke didn't work then, and she didn't want to address that wall now. She couldn't afford him to throw her out again.

Oliver only responded with one word. "So?"

"I'm worried." She couldn't believe that she had to spell that out for him. "I don't want you to fall apart if you find her and she has no idea who you are. I understand why you're doing all of this, I do." She wasn't going to spell out his feelings for him too. That was his job. "But I don't want you to feel lost in case everything goes south."

"Thanks for your concern, but I'll be fine. I won't be lost."

She was starting to hate that word. Fine.

"Really, Oliver?" she asked "When was the last time you did some target practice? When was the last time you zip-lined from rooftop to rooftop?"

When was the last time he felt the true freedom of flying up in the air across the city? When was the last time he released an arrow and felt all of his stress disappearing from his body the instant he let go of that bowstring?

"I still work out and do yoga every morning."

That's not the same.

"Good, but it's not your physique that I'm worried about. I'm worried about your identity. What we do out there every night is a huge part of who we are. You taught me that. And I'm worried that you're mixing up her identity with your own."

"Meaning…?"

"Meaning that you're Watchtower now. And that's fine as a temporary deal. But from what you've been telling me, Chloe was one of the strongest people that you've ever met. And she left. What's to say that you're not going to leave too?" she asked

He was silent for a moment. Maybe she finally got through to him. Good. "Is that what you're worried about? That I'm just going to go off on my jet one day and never come back?"

It's one. "It's on my list, yes."

"There's a list?" he asked "What's on the top of it?"

She took a deep breath. She almost didn't want to say it, for fear that it would come true one of these days. "That you're going to get yourself killed, and I won't know about it until it's too late", she said quickly.

She looked at him for a moment, hoping that he heard the first time. She really didn't want to repeat it.

He must have heard her though, since he took her in his arms next. "I'll be careful, I promise."

She pulled apart from him. "You've been more of a father to me than anything else. I don't want to lose that."

She didn't trust easily, and he was the first person that he trusted in a long time.

"You won't."

Mia wasn't sure if she believed him.


	4. Chapter 4

Oliver: "I'm not worried about him. Mia, it's what he said. I think he's right. What if I can't outrun these dark places inside me?"

Mia: "That's why you need me. To keep you in check. There's a dark place inside everyone, Oliver. What we do with it depends not on who our teachers are but what we do with the lessons learned."

Summary: Oliver Queen needs Mia to keep him in check. Companion Piece to Erase- you should really read the two side by side.

Warnings: Violence and spoilers for season 9

Chapter Four

She was worried about Oliver. She didn't think that it would be possible for him to be more driven than when she found him at the Watchtower the first time, but he had topped it somehow. Every single computer there was busy running search after search.

He downloaded one translator program after another so that language barriers couldn't stop him. He stopped when he downloaded a Russian one for time purposes, and realized that the programs were flawed.

Mia had hoped that he would stop there, but he didn't. He started teaching himself languages instead, book after book covering the Watchtower floors. He muttered underneath his breath as he ran searches in order to keep himself in practice.

He showed her his version of a universal translator program, and she watched in amazement as the database recognized the language being used instantly before translating a text.

He started to improve it. He created two, three better versions. She was getting frustrated whenever she walked in on him working on them- he would type and type on those damned keyboards and not even notice her in the building for hours at a time.

He created these programs to help him, but he was still at it with more intensity than ever.

For Mia, Google was all she would ever need. But Oliver had the information of the entire world available to him, and it still wasn't good enough.

He was Watchtower now, and she wasn't going to let that title stick. She drove over to the Clock Tower with determination, and pressed the up button forcefully as the elevator doors closed.

She waited for the doors to open again, and was about to give Oliver a piece of her mind when she saw him sitting at his desk with a solemn look on his face. Something happened.

She saw a crumpled piece of paper on the floor, and bent down to grab it before reading.

"I want to let you in on a little secret Clark. I'm not who you think I am. In fact, my disguise is so thin, I'm surprised you haven't seen right through me."

Did Chloe write this? It was a typed up letter, and judging by the look of the paper, it had gone through a lot. The print looked a bit worn. Maybe this was an old letter. Mia continued to read.

"I'm the girl of your dreams masquerading as your best friend."

Oh no. She looked over at Oliver. There was a full glass of scotch in front of him, and he was staring at it.

Mia didn't read the rest of the letter. She didn't need to read it to know that Clark broke her heart- Chloe wouldn't have kept it otherwise.

She didn't need to read it in order to know what Oliver was feeling. And she wouldn't blame him if he downed that glass right then and there.

But he didn't. He just stared at it in silence, and she knew that he probably didn't know that she was there. She couldn't blame him this time. All she could do was break the silence.

"Are you going to drink that?" she asked

The silence continued before he made a decision. "I can't."

He grabbed the glass and moved to the kitchen. She watched as he slowly emptied the liquid into the drain. She was proud of him- proud that he didn't let himself slip back into old habits.

"How long ago was it written?" Mia asked when the last drop disappeared

"Seven years ago."

"A lot changes in seven years", she told him.

But she knew that didn't help. The truth was that Chloe felt an incredible amount of emotion for Clark- love. She wouldn't let herself feel it for Oliver, and that was killing him.

"A little too much changed her."

"Do you think that she would have left if she was the same?" She asked, knowing the question was on his mind as well

He stared at the sink. "I don't know", she heard him whisper.

But there were elements of her past that were here now. Oliver told her about the newspaper she kept running all throughout high school. If Oliver was becoming anything like her now, Mia would guess that Chloe carried that determination into her role at Watchtower.

"I think that her strength is still the same."

"I think so too", he agreed.

"And I think", she continued, "that the raw emotion is still there. Somewhere. You just have to find it. And find a way to bring it out."

He gave her a confused look. Oh, still blind. Right. He walked out of the kitchen, and sat back down at his desk. He put away the binder and flipped open his laptop.

"What can I help you with?" he asked

What? What just happened here?

He started typing at the laptop, and she realized what was going on here. He didn't drink the scotch, because that would be something that Oliver Queen would do. Oliver Queen would drown his sorrows in alcohol. He wasn't using restraint; he was burying himself in his work, compartmentalizing. Just like Watchtower.

"Oliver, that's not important right now."

"Well, you obviously came here for some reason or another."

Okay, that's enough. She placed her hand on the laptop, and pushed it down slowly until it closed. "Don't do this."

"What? What am I doing? What's the matter?"

"You're making things strictly business. Nothing personal. Just like she did."

"You don't know her", he told her.

"I haven't met her, but I know her", she said. Because she knew Oliver, knew the real him, and could separate what was him from what he was changing into. "Maybe not as well as you do, but I know her", she clarified.

"Mia."

He was still looking for a reason. She couldn't just drop by. And she couldn't let him lose himself like this.

"Fine", she answered. "I need you to patrol tonight."

She was going to have to come up with a reason as to why she couldn't do it. And she didn't have one.

So she lied. "I have an exam tomorrow, and I really need to study for it. I've been trying to bring it up all week but…"

She trailed off before he could notice that she was lying to him. She hated lying to him, but she couldn't let him lose himself. Maybe patrolling would help.

"No, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

"I'm sorry to just spring this on you", she said guiltily. "I know you haven't patrolled in a while, and you're a little out of touch."

"What am I, old?" he asked

Not old. Identity confused, maybe. But he wouldn't believe that.

"You haven't shot an arrow in a while. Your accuracy might be off", she explained weakly.

"I'm sure it's just like riding a bike."

"Except, of course, you're riding a zip-line. Just humor me, okay? Get out a target, and shoot it."

She waited until he opened the Arrow room and stepped inside. She watched as he felt his gear, moved his fingers around the leather.

Come on, Oliver. Shoot the target.

She needed him to feel his sense of identity returning. If this didn't work, then she didn't know him at all.

He closed his eyes as he unfolded his bow, and smiled as he heard the noise.

She grabbed a target and rolled it a good distance away from him. She stood behind him and watched him. She wanted to see it when it happened- she wanted to see him as himself again.

"Shoot the target."

She saw him touch the tip of a titanium arrow before swiftly fitting it into the bow, and stretching the bow-string back. He held it for a second before releasing it, and Mia heard the noise of the arrow hitting the target. She recognized the distinctive noise of the arrow striking the center, but glanced down to make sure.

She saw the sparkle in his eyes, and smiled.

"Am I still out of touch?" he asked

She shook his head. No, he wasn't. Hopefully, she could keep him that way.


End file.
